The traditional medium for editing and broadcasting live video and audio signals is live television, for example, to broadcast live sporting events. A live television signal is defined as a video signal of an event that is captured by a video camera and an accompanying audio signal that is captured, for instance, by a microphone, both of which are transmitted via one or more video and audio media while the event is still occurring, i.e., in real time. The current technology used for broadcasting a live sporting event on television is a “TV remote truck” or a similar type van. The TV remote truck typically contains hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment used to edit video signals from multiple video cameras that capture the event from different angles. The equipment in the TV truck typically includes a wall of television monitors. Separate monitors display the output of each camera. A preview monitor displays the next possible live camera or video source that may be released for on-air programming, and a program monitor displays the live camera or video source that the television audience is viewing at the time of the live event or the event being recorded. The equipment inside the TV truck also includes audio monitoring equipment, an audio and video mixer and switcher for combining and switching between the different video and accompanying audio signals of the event, a private line (P-L) communications system for a director to communicate with camera operators, a tally system to cue camera operators, and video and audio synchronizing equipment.
The director is a key person who coordinates the use of all of the above TV truck equipment to create an exciting live television event as seen by viewers generally all across the nation, and sometimes the world. She is responsible for making the critical, on-the-spot judgement calls needed in live television, where there is no such thing as a “second take.”
The current TV truck technology contains numerous significant shortcomings. First, use of this technology is extremely costly in both the raw cost of the equipment inside the truck as well as the cost in man-hours to operate this equipment. Since the TV truck equipment utilizes analog standard 26-pin connector technology, only the expensive cameras (generally costing $50,000 each or more) are compatible with the TV truck equipment. This further raises the cost of live television broadcasting via this prior art technology. Moreover, the above analog cameras must be synchronized, which requires additional equipment such as waveform monitors to measure timing and voltages of the video signals and vectorscopes to measure color information. Skilled technicians are needed to operate this equipment, again raising the cost associated with live television broadcasting using the TV truck technology.
The high costs associated with using the TV truck technology are extremely prohibitive. Generally only major networks, TV stations and some well-funded cable TV systems can afford to produce live television programming using this technology. However, even these entities may choose not to use the technology to create programming other than major or professional sporting events because the production costs are typically too high to justify smaller events. On the other hand, small companies, schools, and hobbyists, for example, who may want to create live local programming simply cannot afford to use this equipment.
The second major shortcoming of the TV truck analog technology is its incompatibility with the quickly emerging digital video technology. Of course, analog signals can be converted to digital signals for processing, but this doesn't necessarily solve the above-described limitations of existing methods and technology. The new digital television and video standards combined with the expanding bandwidth of the World Wide Web are creating an enormous vacuum for programming content, i.e., “Webcasting”. In addition, broadcast quality cameras are available at the local electronics store for as little as $1500, and these cameras produce pictures equal to if not better than the $50,000 cameras used with the TV truck technology. There is no system that puts into both sophisticated users', e.g., major TV networks, and non-sophisticated users', e.g., high school students and teachers, hands the ability to create professional quality multi-camera live or live-to-tape programming at a reasonable cost in this expansive new Webcasting medium.
The third major shortcoming of the TV truck technology is that it takes an engineering approach to live television signal editing and broadcasting. In other words, the main purpose is to assemble the equipment needed to get the content out. However, there is very little regard to the difficulties of the crucial, time-sensitive decisions that a program director must make while creating program content. For instance, the multiplicity of television monitors that the director must watch and the other equipment and personnel needed to operate the TV truck equipment all function as significant distractions to the director.
The J-Lab Co. offers a video production system that merely addresses the issue of portability. This system, however, is also based upon analog technology and is relatively costly. Therefore, the unit does not allow the use of industrial and consumer level cameras. The J-Lab system instead relies on broadcast analog standard 26-pin connector technology. Moreover, the J-Lab system's analog output does not produce a digitally encoded signal that can be immediately encoded into a webcast audio/video-streaming device for live transmission onto the World Wide Web. Another shortcoming of the J-Lab system is that it uses individual display monitors causing the director to have to shift his eyes from screen display to screen display and past the frame lines and bezels of each framed picture, causing more eye motion than is desirable.
Pinnacle Systems also offers a portable production system called the StreamGenie™, but this system also fails to address all of the shortcomings of the prior art. For instance, the StreamGenie™ has a human interface design which makes it very difficult for a TV director to edit images from multiple cameras in a typical fast-paced, live production environment because the system only allows two camera images on the system's screen at one time, and these images are extremely small. This prevents the director from seeing the detail that a director must consider, nearly instantly, to make a live editing decision.
What is needed is an improved portable system for editing multiple live television signals.